The Heat-Sensitive Half-Elf
Oh, so this is what a real combo feels like.
With points poured into Agility, Hypno’s sharpened reflexes easily tracked the pack of wolf-dogs charging straight at him.
Eight of them in total.
Four were already lunging to bury him under their weight, while the remaining four hung back, watching his every move.
If I slip free, they’ll pile on instantly. In that case…
Hypno floated the Heavenly Demon’s Jewel above his head, poured a thick surge of mana into it, and triggered the spell.
Since I’m casting through the Heavenly Demon’s Jewel…
“Heavenly Demon Lightning!”
He shouted a name that sounded like it belonged in a martial-arts novel and unleashed Lightning.
Crackle-snap-snap-snap!
A torrent of brilliant blue lightning exploded outward from the jewel, flooding every direction.
The four wolf-dogs mid-pounce never even managed a proper scream; they blackened, smoked, and dropped like stones.
-!?
Sudden death of their packmates.
The three survivors flinched in shock, then bared their fangs and rushed him as one.
-Awoooooooo!
One of them threw its head back and howled.
Zero learning ability.
Even after watching four of their own get wiped out, the remaining three still charged. Hypno found it almost funny.
This time, no magic…
He poured mana directly into the Heavenly Demon’s Jewel itself and flicked his fingers like a conductor.
The jewel above his head shot forward at his command.
Thud-thud-thud!
-Grrraaagh!
It slammed into the heads and torsos of all three wolf-dogs in rapid succession.
The moderately heavy orb, accelerated by raw mana, crushed skulls or shattered ribs and pulped organs. Instant death—or death within seconds of impact.
“Damn, that performance is insane.”
Hypno had never expected the Heavenly Demon’s Jewel to move that fast.
He’d been ready to fire another Lightning if it proved too slow, but there was no need.
One wolf-dog left.
This time he spun the jewel into a furious whirl.
“Might as well test a spin-ball.”
Just as he prepared to launch the spinning jewel—
-Grrrrrrrr!
The rapid patter of many more paws thundered toward him.
So that howl was calling reinforcements. Doesn’t matter how many they bring—it’s useless!
He fired the spinning jewel at the nearest wolf-dog first.
Booooom!
The creature never got out a scream; it pinwheeled through the air, smashed into a tree, and crumpled.
-Awoooooooo!
Several of the newcomers howled to summon even more packs while the rest charged straight at him.
Under normal circumstances it would have been a deadly swarm.
Hypno felt not a shred of danger.
Time to test every spell I’ve got!
To him the endless wave of wolf-dogs—charging, howling, calling more—were nothing more than convenient practice dummies.
Twenty minutes.
Hypno slaughtered the endless stream of wolf-dogs, and slaughtered them again, and again.
It wasn’t a desperate, continuous slaughter, though.
Using his boosted Agility he danced and weaved, sometimes wreathing the Heavenly Demon’s Jewel in flame, sometimes launching wind blades the way he had against goblins, sometimes blasting them away with high-pressure water cannons, sometimes spearing them on stone spikes that erupted from the earth. He systematically tested every spell he could cast.
He even deliberately left survivors free to call more packs, and whenever he got bored standing still he simply changed positions. Twenty minutes of pure, joyful magical experimentation.
Testing’s starting to get dull.
Unlike hypnotizing women into “rehabilitation” or bedding them, the fun never lasted forever.
Time for cleanup.
First, cut the ears off the corpses… Ahh, I should’ve just sliced the ears first and then moved on.
He sighed at his own carelessness—too excited by the magic tests to collect proof properly—and flung a spell at the last half-dead wolf-dog.
“Wind Demon Slash!”
Just an ordinary Wind Slash.
Plain spell names were boring during testing, so he shouted whatever flashy title popped into his head.
Shhhk!
The wolf-dog never even tried to dodge; its torso was cleanly bisected.
Guts spilled out. Hypno stuck out his tongue.
“Ugh. Shouldn’t have done that. Anyway, time to collect ears.”
For the next ten minutes he used Wind Slash to sever the ears of every wolf-dog he had killed and stored them inside the Heavenly Demon’s Jewel.
Even with magic, blood still sprayed and soaked into his robe while he cut and gathered.
Whatever. Power Clean will wipe it all later.
Ears collected, he prepared to head back to Zenid.
Conveniently he was right where he had first entered the forest and met the pack. This time he knew the way out and started to leave.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
-Grrraaaaaargh!
A wolf-dog far larger than the rest, its body criss-crossed with old scars, exploded out of the undergrowth behind him with a savage roar.
By the time Hypno spun around, the beast was already two seconds from clamping its fangs on him.
He yanked the Heavenly Demon’s Jewel in front of himself, ready to fire Lightning—
That was when it happened.
“Icicle Needle.”
Massive icicles erupted from the ground in a rapid chain, skewering the scarred wolf-dog through and through.
-Gr… raagh…
Blood poured from the impaled body; the beast died where it stood.
Hypno blinked at the sudden death of the monster he had been about to kill himself.
What the…?
“Are you… okay?”
A languid female voice drifted from the direction of the forest exit.
Hypno turned his head—
“Uh…!?”
—and his eyes flew wide at the sight of the woman who had clearly launched those icicles.
“You’re not… hurt?”
Because she was exactly his type from the waist down.
Hair like white silk shot through with sky-blue.
A thick braid hanging all the way to her calves.
Stray strands sticking out here and there.
Sapphire eyes like polished gems.
Slightly pointed ears.
An elf.
She stared at him with a vacant expression.
Yet her outfit was anything but vacant.
A tiara-like headpiece, a white cloak, and beneath it—a leotard.
Not just any leotard: a high-leg number so skimpy it barely covered her crotch, leaving her waist and the full swell of her ass completely exposed. The top only covered the front of her breasts, baring side-boob and the entire back. The rear was nothing more than a thin strip from nape to the cleft of her buttocks and a slender band around her waist.
The white fabric turned sheer from lower belly to cleavage, showing every inch of skin beneath.
On her hands she wore gloves that left every finger free except for a ring on the middle finger; each hand held an identically designed sword. Dual blades.
Thigh bands like chokers connected to white stockings, forming a makeshift garter-belt look.
And she filled that outrageous outfit to perfection—her body was built to make the design look intentional.
Watermelon-sized breasts so full that even the side view was overwhelming. Plump thighs that created soft folds at the crotch and a deep valley at the hips. The bands made the flesh bulge just enough to scream healthy, mouth-watering sex appeal.
The moment Hypno took her in—
Holy fucking shit she’s hot as hellllllllll!
—his brain short-circuited into pure primal praise.
What is that outfit, a slut costume? The girls at the Adventurer Guild were already pretty slutty, but this is a whole different league! That vacant face plus that outfit—what the fuck is this gap?! My dick won’t go down!
While he machine-gunned compliments inside his head, she drifted closer.
“Hello…?”
She waved a hand slowly in front of his face, checking for a reaction.
“Uh, y-yeah. What.”
“Are you… okay?”
“Huh? Y-yeah. I’m fine.”
“Good… I’m glad.”
Her voice matched the vacant look—slow, languid, almost sleepy.
She slid her swords into the rings on her belt.
“That was… close. The wolf-dog leader… attacked.”
“Did it?”
So that was the pack leader. Yeah, it was pretty big. Wait—more importantly!
Hypno quickly assessed the situation.
The insanely hot woman in front of him was clearly worried about him.
Which meant she believed he had been in real danger.
From her point of view, she had just saved a helpless man from certain death.
In other words, she was his life-saving benefactor.
Well, I wasn’t actually in danger… but if she “saved” me, then I owe her “gratitude” and a “reward,” heh heh heh…
“It was… dangerous.”
She murmured, gazing at the leader’s corpse.
Perfect timing.
“Yes! Extremely dangerous! Wow~ thank you so much! You are my life’s savior!”
He switched to polite speech on the spot, seized both her hands, and pumped them vigorously.
Whoa, for someone who swings swords, her hands are ridiculously soft.
Even with her hands suddenly grabbed, she showed neither disgust nor resistance—just kept that vacant expression.
“Is that… so?”
“Absolutely! I insist on repaying you later!”
“You don’t… have to.”
“Nonsense! Something like this can’t just be brushed aside! I will definitely ‘repay’ you!”
“Really…? Okay.”
Sensing he would keep pushing if she refused, she simply nodded.
“First… let’s get out of here. If we stay, the blood will draw more wolf-dogs.”
“Yes! Let’s do that!”
After cutting off and storing the leader’s ears, Hypno and the woman left the forest.
Along the way he learned why she had intervened.
She had been returning to Zenid from a distant request when she heard the wolf-dogs howling. One howl she might have ignored, but the calls kept multiplying, so she entered the forest to check.
The moment she stepped inside she saw a blood-spattered man in a robe and the scarred leader lunging at him. Assuming he was in mortal danger, she immediately attacked.
“The blood on your robe… was all from the wolf-dogs.”
“Hahaha, traces of a fierce battle with the pack.”
“I… didn’t need to help…?”
“Not at all! Even I thought I was done for when the leader ambushed me out of nowhere! You are truly my life’s savior!”
He shook his head vigorously, desperate to forge any connection he could.
I could just hypnotize her and fuck her right now, but something about this girl makes me want to leave her alone and savor her slowly. Well… if she gets too hot I’ll end up fucking her anyway.
“Ah, come to think of it, I still don’t know my savior’s name! What may I call you?”
“Me…?”
“Yes! You! Ah, I’m Hypno. Adventurer rank E.”
Still wearing that vacant expression, the woman who had saved him from the wolf-dog leader finally spoke.
“I’m Wintineas… Rank… D.”